Markus Ritter - Ghosts of the Past

Legacy of the Schattenjaegers, continued

After a very promising demo/prologue (The Lost Family), the Markus Ritter storyline now continues with the main game, Ghosts of the Past. A lovingly conceived, beautifully designed and executed tribute to Jane Jensen's iconic Gabriel Knight universe, the Markus Ritter games feature the eponymous character and his estranged cousin, Roberta - another honorable allusion to full motion video (FMV) game pioneer and Jensen's early collaborator, Roberta Williams.

The House of Da Vinci

In the maze of a genius mind

Very beautifully designed, as all the games in this series, based (albeit somewhat loosely) on historical figures and facts. Game mechanics are reasonable but also challenging and a thoroughly researched blend of history and fiction is always a treat for the players who enjoy this kind of plot.

The Wild Case

A fantasy laced crime mystery

Endearingly pretty design, reasonable (for a change) puzzles, an engaging story. In all, an enjoyable, challenging enough indie game, which keeps the player's interest alive till the end.

Markus Ritter - The Lost Family

Legacy of the Schattenjaegers

A very well made, interesting and enjoyable tribute to one of the beloved, iconic games in the adventure genre - Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within - with full motion video (FMV) starring real actors.

Darkarta - A Broken Heart's Quest (Collector's Edition)

Of love & other demons

Being a HOG (Hidden Object Games) enthusiast ever since I discovered their existence, I opted for the Collector's Edition of Darkarta: A Broken Heart's Quest, which includes the soundtrack and a bonus adventure (also offered as separate DLCs).

Mad People Tarot Decks

We are all mad here

In Lewis Carroll's iconic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, the eponymous young protagonist sneaks into and makes her way through a fantasy world populated with hybrid creatures, walking and talking chess pawns and playing cards following mathematically structured moves. Whether a piece of concealed social and political satire, a surreal coming-of-age allegory or simply a game of words, notions and numbers narrated in fairy tale form, Carroll's universe remains one of literature's richest, most fascinating puzzles. Nightmarishly sophisticated in its understated wittiness, it brings forth the dramatic contradictions in human society's extreme organization, the inherent "madness" governing virtually every aspect of our everyday life and interaction.

Call of Fries

Still want fries with that?

Never thought I'd get pwnd by a fry, of all digitally simulated entities out there. Oh well.

Keepsake

Suspiria, anyone?

Not the (rather incomprehensible) recent remake, but Dario Argento's original 1970 masterpiece about a ballet student arriving at a dance academy which is actually a witch coven. Keepsake is a lovely vintage adeventure game that seems to be using an engine similar to the one another, older classic game, Sanitarium, was made with. Throughout the evolution of the plot, there are many winks at Argento's visionary thriller, although the general atmosphere and spirit are quite different.

UrbsTopia Tarot Decks

Urban utopias & dystopias

A city (urbs in Latin, hence the adjective "urban") is a miniature universe, a unit mirroring a totality; a living, evolving microcosm with its own internal, intrinsic and intricate rules and laws, the mysteries and secrets that haunt it, the tales and legends that define it.

Gabriel Knight 1 - Sins of the Fathers (20th Anniversary Edition)

And there was light

The first time (about a decade and a half ago) that I attempted to install Sins of the Fathers on my then Windows 98 SE PC, I was met with bitter disappointment; the game just refused to run properly, defying any and all workarounds. It was only in 2015 - thanks to its drastically revamped, 20 year anniversary edition distributed on Steam - that I finally got to play this legendary adventure, rightfully considered as a cornerstone in its genre.